The Former Maruhage Empire
Background One century before the start of the series, the Maruhage Empire was one of many countries on planet Earth: a small country of little notice. However, it was at this time that a new, powerful emperor took control of the country. This emperor was Tsuru Tsurulina the Third (dub: Czar Baldy-Bald the Third), a madman with a fierce xenophobia of humanity and a desire to conquer and destroy all. Gathering the most powerful soldiers and forces in the empire, he sparked an invasion that would not stop under any circumstance. Within three days of the start of the invasion, Tsurulina the Third and the Maruhage Empire had conquered nearly the entire world! They now ruled over the entire population and controlled it with an iron fist, dividing their conquerings into twenty-six blocks, each ruled by one of the generals who took part in the invasion.Bo-bobo vol. 12, pg. 128 - Tsurulina IV explains the history of the Former Maruhage However, even with control of practically the entire Earth, Tsurulina the Third wanted more. In particular, he became interested in one country that had remained unconquered during his three-day reign of terror: the Hair Kingdom, a small kingdom filled with creatures that resembled hair follicles...as well as a couple of humanoids. When the Maruhage Empire proceeded to invade the Hair Kingdom, warriors protected it with an internal artifact known as the Hair Ball, which gave them amazing powers and abilities. Tsurulina became obsessed with obtaining a Hair Ball to the point of invading the Hair Kingdom, yet always failed to make a dent in conquering the land and obtaining the power for himself.Bo-bobo vol. 15, pg. 73 - Tsurulina III explains the Hair Ball To further solidify his troops into defeating the hair menace, the emperor would declare "Hair Hunts", where his soldiers and generals would scour the countryside making every man, woman and child bald. Several other lands other than the Hair Kingdom remained out of reach to the Maruhage Empire, including the defiance of the similarly chaotic Shigeki Kingdom led by the enigmatic Shigeki X.Bo-bobo vol. 20, pg. 175; vol. 21, pg. 7: further info on Shigeki X However, at the height of their power, with the world under their finger and complete authoritarian rule, Tsurulina and his entire Maruhage force did something unexpected: they disappeared. In particular, the emperor, his generals and all the Maruhage soldiers sealed themselves into a cryogenic chamber and froze themselves. The assumption was that with the world completely under the Maruhage Empire, no one would stand to face them and that they would rise once again when their rule was under threat. For one hundred years, the chamber holding the old soldiers remained undisturbed underground while the Maruhage Empire they built continued to exist unopposed by any forces. Around one-hundred years after their freezing, the seal to their cryogenic chamber broke and the chamber rose to the surface once more. A new emperor, Tsuru Tsurulina the Fourth (Czar Baldy-Bald the Fourth) now ruled the empire. However, the land that these ancient generals built was under threat: a band of weird rebels led by Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, a warrior from the Hair Kingdom, was plowing through the forces of the modern Maruhage, taking out generals and even the most powerful of the Fourth's warriors. Although the current emperor seemed scared at first that his more powerful predecessors had returned from cryogenic sleep, he saw this as a double fold opportunity for himself: the warriors from a hundred years ago were much more powerful than his own and they would immediately go after the warrior from the Hair Kingdom causing him trouble! Allowing the warriors to do as they desire, they return once again to fight against the rebels...not knowing of the weird and powerful opponents they were about to face.Bo-bobo vol. 12, pg. 80: Tsurulina IV's reaction to the return of the Former Maruhage Their most common technique is Turbo Trio Salva, which allows any of three block leaders to create a very powerful attack. (dub:Fomer Chrome Dome Empire) Former Emperor Tsuru Tsurulina the 3rd/Czar Baldy Bald the 3rd Main Article: Tsuru Tsurulina III Seven Main Block Leaders Like the modern Maruhage Empire, the Maruhage Empire of one-hundred years ago was primarily divided into twenty-six letter blocks. Similarly, the seven most powerful of these generals lead the seven most powerful blocks (A Block to G Block) and likewise became the main leaders of the many other generals in the modern battles. Four of them lead specific areas of the Neo-Hair Hunt Land MAX, an amusement park constructed by Baldy-Bald the Fourth just for their own usage. A fifth member, Rem, unofficially lead another of the attractions, but was not consciously awake when place around that area. Lambada, who chose to work on his own instead of leading an attraction, eventually joins in the attraction led by Rem...but though he is more powerful than the true leader of the attraction, he merely becomes one of the combatants inside. The last of these seven woke early and lead an advanced team of former Hair Hunters in the modern world. Hanpen Main Article: Hanpen The former A-Block leader. Lambada Main Article: Lambada The former B-Block leader. Jeda the Wind God Main Article: Jeda the Wind God The former C-Block leader. Rem Main Article: Rem The former D-Block leader. Combat Blues Main Article: Combat Blues The former E-Block leader. Ujikin TOKIO Main Article: Ujikin TOKIO The former F-Block leader. Rose-Lily Kikunojō Main Article: Rose-Lily Kikunojo The former G-Block leader. Other Block Leaders Like the modern Maruhage, nineteen further Hair-Hunt blocks existed during the former era. As they awoke into this time, the major block leaders recruited several of them to assist in the Sangaria matches against Bo-bobo's troops. Those who weren't chosen ended up assisting on less-major attractions such as the merry-go-round, which is primarily ruled by three block leaders without any true leadership. Chikuwan (チクワン)/'Churro Charlie': Chikuwan is the Former H-Block Leader who is a living "chikuwa" (or a churro in the U.S. dub). His basic form of attack is trapping enemies with his tube-like body, and squeezing them to death! Chikuwan's sneezes are also known to be explosive. Like all food-based fighters of the series, Chikuwan can survive dismemberment. He is first seen trying to help Hanpen and Guy Bō fight against the rebels. He had great respect for Hanpen, proven by his starting a group cheer (with other living food creatures) for Hanpen. The end result is Hanpen yelling at Chikuwan and his cheering squad, making them all upset. He and Hanpen also had a few tag team moves to contribute to the battle. However, not even this could prevent defeat at the hands of Tenbobo who dispatched all three of them with incredibly brutal attacks! *'Episode appearances': 65-67 *'Manga appearances': *'Seiyuu': Minoru Shiraishi *'Voice actor': Michael Sorich Guy Bō (GUY坊 GUY Bō)/'Guy Boy' Guy Bo is a man with a bizarre looking face, and wears a "Takuhatsugasa" hat. He is the Former I-Block Leader who helps Hanpen and Chikuwan fight Bo-bobo and the rebels. Both he and Chikuwan had great respect for Hanpen. He kept surprise-attacking Hatenko whenever the key master got distracted, but ends up doing this one too many times and gets his arm "LOCKED". Things only got worse for him after Bo-bobo and Tokoro Tennosuke fused into Tenbobo, who viciously and brutally attacked the trio with "peace" until they were defeated! Bell sounds are usually heard when Guy Bo strikes. *'Episode appearances': 65-67 *'Manga appearances': Chisuisui (チスイスイ)/ Vampire Lame-stat: Chisuisui is the Former commander of K-Block, he's a vampire who assists Ujikin TOKIO and Star Saber in the "Runaway Robot Range". He was mostly in charage of changing the route that "Gizmo the Robot" moved through, by using his cape to change the track pieces. Despite his best efforts, he and his team fell before the awesome powers of Bo-bobo's "Dishonorably Unfair Seven Cities Bus Tour". Like all vampires, Chisuisui uses his teeth to suck the blood of his victims, unfortunately, he isn't good at sucking tokorten. He is also known to have good speed and agility, as he can easily move out the way from being run over by Gizmo the Robot. During a special power-up known as "S.F.", his clothes change into a sci-fi costume, complete with a light-saber. Despite being a vampire, Chisuisui fought with Bo-bobo and friends in broad daylight, and seemed unaffected by the sunlight *'Episode appearances': 55-56 *'Manga appearances': 131-134 Raparapa (ラパラパ)/ Lapalapa: The Former N-Block Leader, Raparapa is a man with black hair, but has a yellow spiked up ponytail. He wears no shirt, making the many tatoos on his body visible. He was first seen working with Jeda the Wind God and Hagaiou in the ice-skating attraction, the "Ice Mecha Ring". He was the one explaining the rules for the match, but despite his knowlege of the area and his superior mech, both he and Hagaiou proved no match for the rebels, though their boss Jeda was able to compete with the rebels. But after Bo-bobo and Don patch fused into PatchBobo, they easily dominated the fight, and made short, humorous work out of the former Maruhage agents. *'Episode appearances': 58-59 *'Voice Actor': Steve Kramer Three-Thousand Years (三千年, Sanzennen): Former O-Block Leader and the only competent member of the merry-go-round attack squad, he fights with the secret technique from three-thousand years of Chinese history: flying bowls of ramen. While the only one of his trio on the merry-go-round that fights, he easily falls by a team effort of Softon, Hatenko and Torpedo Girl. * Episode appearances: 59 Star Saber (スターセイバー)/ Freak-O-Vision: Former leader of P-Block, he's a walking TV monitor with a fan on his back and boxing gloves on his fists. His abilities include a powerful punch as well as the ability to transform himself and his allies into sci-fi versions of themselves. * Episode appearances: 55-56 * Voice Actor: Michael Sorich Haigaou (覇凱王 Hagaiou)/ Baron von Horny: Haigaou greatly is a creature of great resemblence to Haou of the Three Prison-Murderer Brothers. Both are green ball creatures with black curly hair, but while Haou has two small horns on his head, Haigaou has three horns, the two side horns much larger than the center horn. It is possible that he is an ancestor of the brothers, but any link between them is open to theory. Haigaou serves as the Former Q-Block Leader, and was seen with Jeda the Wind God and Raparapa in the "Ice Mecha Ring". He controlled a giant frog mech that could transform into an elephant during the match. However, he and Raparapa proved to be not even a hinderance to Bo-bobo and the others, the Jeda managed to keep them at bay. This all changed when Bo-bobo and Don Patch fused into PatchBobo, who easily destroyed the entire arena! Afterwards, PatchBobo takes Haigaou's lunchbox and turns it's contents into weaponry! Literally adding injury to insult, PatchBobo fused Haigaou and Jeda together into a pathetic looking being with useless attacks! After one final strike from two King Nosehairs', the evil trio is defeated and Haigaou and Jeda defuse while unconcious. *'Episode appearances': 58-59 *'Voice Actor': Dan Lorge Ishikawa Goemon (イシカワ・ゴエモン)/'Roman Samurai': First appearing as "Roman Kikō" (浪漫貴公 Roman Kikō, translates into "Romantic You", this is the name where dub name "Roman Samurai" comes from), Ishikawa Goemon serves as the Former R-Block leader, he's a strange samurai-like warrior first seen in the "Hell Area" of "Life or Death Triple" (a giant coin machine) of the Former Maruhage Empire's themepark. He easily dispatches Tokoro Tennosuke (who makes his way back into the arena not too much later), but is eventually forced to fight Don Patch, who easily guesses his true identity. Just to humiliate him further, Don Patch turns Goemon's "Fist of strange animals' against him. Though he was thought to have been defeated, Goemon gets back up. Goemon tries to analyze his baffaling opponent's insides,... only to find that they resemble a three story Japanese castle! True to his theif nature, Goemon tries to steal from the "castle", only to have Don Patch defeat him for real this time, and throws him out of the coin machine. The machine spits him out in a trunk, and Goemon is never seen again. *'Powers' Ishikawa Goemon is the master of "Genjū Shinken" (幻獣真拳 Fist of Strange Animals), allowing him to summon strange (but not so terrifying) creatures from a special Japanese shrine to fight for him. However, the technique is not perfect, and the monsters are liable to attack him instead of the enemey! He also possesses a small telescope, which helps him to identify his opponents, thus making them easier to defeat. However, this telescope is proven useless against high-level Hajikelists, who cannot be analyzed because of they're nosensical nature. *'Episode appearances': 60-62 *'Voice Actor': Paul St. Peter Yagyū (やぎゅう): Former V-Block Leader, he's a samurai who is best described as an idiot after trying to charge at Torpedo Girl and Co. on a Merry-Go-Round horse. His ponytail gets ripped off by Torpedo Girl and used as Calligraphy brush. * Episode appearances: 59 * Voice Actor: Paul St. Peter Swimsuit Gal & Swimsuit Girl Swimsuit Gal (水着ギャル Mizugi Gyaru) and Swimsuit Girl (水着ガール Mizugi Gāru): Two teenage girls in swimsuits who are respectively the former leaders of W-Block and J-Block and working alongside Combat Blues at the water slide battlefield. The two of them comfort their boss every time he's knocked out, instantly reviving him back into action (and leading to accusations he's a pervert). However, near the episode's end, Bo-bobo has turned them to good just before Combat Blues is defeated. * Episode appearances: 57 * Voice Actor: Barbara Goodson Model (モーデル)/'Morbel': Former X-Block Leader who loves to hold his own fashion shows, even at the most inappropriate time. He use to be the star of the shows, that is until Torpedo Girl kicked him off and stole the spotlight. He appears again during the New Emperor Playoffs * Episode appearances: 59, 73 * Manga appearances: 196.5 Kancho-kun Main Article: Kancho-kun Rububa the Bubbles (泡玉のルブバ Awadama no Rububa)/'Bubble-uba': Former Z-Block Leader who uses Shabon Shinken (シャボ ン真拳:Fist of Soap) Super Fist of the Bubbles in the dub, which allows him to create bubbles of any size through a giant straw or turn himself into a bubble. He explains the functions of the "Life or Death Triple" machine and lays out a 6-team format for fighting inside (which Bobobo's team disregard anyway since Dengakuman and Softon came in as extras and Jelly Jiggler re-enters the machine under a different alias). Rububa dispatches Dengakuman easily with bubble warriors, but gets blasted away by Rice, Don Patch, and Bobobo's "Wiggin' Cannon". * Episode appearances: 60 * Voice Actor: Brian Beacock Hair Hunters Although a massive platoon of former Hair Hunters were frozen alongside Tsurulina the Third and the generals, many of them were of no significance to the story. All of the Hair Hunters in this list are notable due to waking prior to the main group of former Hair Hunters, with many of them joining Rose-Lily Kikunojo's initial assault. The exception to that group are the two Associate Hair Hunters, who remained in the chamber when Tsurulina the Fourth investigated the return of his predecessors. Rose-Lily Kikunojo's Hair Hunters Main Article: G-Block Associate Hair Hunters #5 and #6 Two hair hunters, a human in torn clothing with a switchblade and a small gumdrop-like creature with wings, the two of them were former Hair Hunters from a hundred years ago. Working together, they force Czar Baldy Bald the 4th to release the former Hair Hunter leaders from their era to take care of the enemies in this time. They are sacrificed by the reverse chromedome after dropping out of the new emperor playoffs. These two, along with Combat Blues, remain loyal to Czar Baldy Bald the 3rd through the end of part 1. * Episode appearances: 52-55, 75-76 * Manga appearances: 196, 196.5, 229 * Voice Actor: Steve Staley (Associate Hair Hunter #5) Other Members Gadget Kun (ガジエト 君, Gajeto kun)/'Gizmo Gadget the Robot' The robot is the "Runaway Robot" Gizmo Gadget attraction that is operated by Ujikin TOKIO's team in the Runaway Robot Range. It follows the path of the tracks on the field and can be altered at any time. However, if it ever crashes, it explodes. Bubble Brothers: Buby & Buba Two demonic bubble beings that are summoned by Rububa the Bubbles. They both defeat Dengakuman. Ishikawa Goemon's monsters Category:Members of the Former Maruhage Empire